LONDON (Reuters) – More Western military help may strengthen Libyan rebels on the battlefield but at the price of a propaganda boost for Muammar Gaddafi, quick to portray his foes as lackeys of the West.

Mindful of the importance of the information war in Libya’s conflict, opposition leaders desperate for foreign weapons will have to take care not to create an image of subservience to Western powers in the event their request is met, analysts say.

WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. officials said President Barack Obama had authorized covert support for Libyan rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi, while Libya’s foreign minister defected, potentially tipping the scales toward the opposition.

In the past few days, Gaddafi’s troops have used superior arms and tactics to push back rebels trying to edge west along the coast from their stronghold in eastern Libya, but any U.S. support be a turning point in the battle over territory.

LONDON (Reuters) – Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, one of Muammar Gaddafi’s closest advisers and a former spy chief, flew to Britain on Wednesday and a close friend said he defected because of attacks by Gaddafi forces on civilians.

The move was “a significant blow” to Gaddafi, a British government source told Reuters.

LONDON (Reuters) – International powers should offer Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi an exit strategy when they meet in London on Tuesday, political commentators said.

Humanitarian aid for Libyans and plans to move to a post-Gaddafi future will be discussed when Britain hosts the conference to be attended by 35 nations.

LONDON (Reuters) – If Libya’s war drags on, could al Qaeda find a haven there, as Muammar Gaddafi argues?

That’s unlikely, most experts say, provided Libya remains a functioning state and the West refrains from inflaming nationalist and Islamist opinion by sending in ground troops.

LONDON (Reuters) – If Libya’s war drags on, could al Qaeda find a haven there, as Muammar Gaddafi argues?

That’s unlikely, most experts say, provided Libya remains a functioning state and the West refrains from inflaming nationalist and Islamist opinion by sending in ground troops.

LONDON (Reuters) – Propaganda may prove to be the most important battleground for Western forces seeking to protect Libyan civilians.

From Gaddafi’s point of view, the battle for hearts and minds may offer him his best hope of political survival.

LONDON (Reuters) – Propaganda may prove to be the most important battleground for Western forces seeking to protect Libyan civilians.

From Gaddafi’s point of view, the battle for hearts and minds may offer him his best hope of political survival.

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – Allied forces face a long, diplomatically divisive grind in Libya if Muammar Gaddafi holds on to his heavy amour, a goal he may achieve by siting his best weaponry in civilian areas to deter air attack.

To prepare for that eventuality, Western powers will now want to train and equip the opposition’s lackluster ground forces to enable them eventually to confront his tanks and big guns largely on their own, analysts say.

LONDON (Reuters) – Portraying his assailants as colonial bullies, Muammar Gaddafi is gambling that a long war would allow him to play the role of victim and erode Western resolve, enabling him to negotiate some form of continued rule.

For now, that looks like a very long shot, analysts say.

World powers who began a U.N.-backed military campaign overnight are acutely aware of the human cost of Gaddafi’s determined crackdown against a six-week-old popular uprising.